Months ago, I decided to go through all 117 Trump campaign rallies from 2023-2024. Each event is about 90 minutes long, so it’s been quite an undertaking. I’ve only gotten through 72.

I wanted to see patterns in how he spun his exaggerations and lies to send his followers down the MAGA rabbit hole. Although Trump is a natural salesman in many ways, he’s had so many business failures that it’s astounding that he was able to transfix about one-third of this country.

After failing to sell steaks, bottled water, vodka, supplements, mortgages, cologne, shuttle flights, a board game and a gambling experience at luxurious casinos Trump finally found his magical elixir for the masses - xenophobia.

The hatred of immigrants, foreigners or anyone who is seen as different was the ultimate Trump product.

Just as fascist leaders have scapegoated marginal groups in the past Donald J. Trump took aim at the most vulnerable.

He created a mythology that included world leaders purposefully trafficking hardened criminals past our borders to sow chaos and unrest.

Every social ill in the United States was caused by immigrants - high housing costs, unemployment, violent crime and the disintegration of what Trump called the American dream.

The only solution was to seal off the border, expel the outsiders and attack trade partners with punitive tariffs. Transgender folks were also thrown on the pyre of hatred.

As more Americans are souring on Trump Fox News is falling back on his old tactics. In the last few weeks before the midterm elections the network has ramped up hatred and fear towards Somali Americans and Muslims.

Xenophobia is old hat for Fox News. The network has enthusiastically trashed and smeared immigrants for years.

As Trump travels across the country to give speeches in mostly deeply red states his propaganda machine is running out of ideas.

The network has tried every way possible to lift the president’s sagging poll numbers and boost Republican candidates in the midterm elections.

It’s not working. Most polls continue to favor Democrats even in races that Republicans would have won easily four years ago.

Since there is no imposing migrant caravan headed towards the southern border Fox News had to get creative.

The network shifted its focus to Europe. Fox News hosts declared that student protests in France were a sign of future riots in the United States.

Fox News also told its viewers that the controversial arrest of a teenager over hate speech laws in the U.K. could lead to the erosion of the First Amendment.

None of this made any sense but the network needed to whip up its viewers into a frenzy of xenophobic and racial hatred without alienating Black and Latino voters who might vote for Republicans.

Fox News went back to an old target - Muslim Americans. Jesse Watters implied that their culture and religion were fundamentally un-American.

The network also scapegoated the Somali American community, which also happens to be mostly Muslim, as the primary source of the decay and rot in suburban Midwestern America.

The Black and Latino population in the United States is significantly larger than the Muslim community which only makes up about 1% of the total U.S. population. There is a significant Muslim population in Texas though so Fox News risks alienating folks in what could be a razor thin election for the U.S. Senate in that state.

I have no doubt the day after the midterm elections that Fox News will go right back to focusing on urban crime and immigrants from Central and South America.

Last week Fox News continued to scramble to come up with content that would keep its viewers’ eyes on the screen while it avoided unpleasant news for Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party.

The latest jobs report was dismal, the president’s approval ratings hit a record low and polling for Republican candidates continued to drop.

The Network tried to distract its audience with segments about National Pumpkin Spice Day, Fat Bear Week, salacious criminal trials and the body cam footage from the arrest of Luigi Mangione.

Fox News hosts also made excuses for President Trump and problematic candidates like Ken Paxton. More Fox News hosts joined Laura Ingraham and Brian Kilmeade in their outspoken criticism of the war with Iran.

More than one Fox News host also begrudgingly brought up the outrage surrounding the Epstein files, a topic the network has ignored for several months.